Phil Kessel Mad

Ron Wilson, a former Maple Leafs head coach replaced by Randy Carlyle—who was just fired today—went on the radio to call out Phil Kessel for being difficult to coach. A reporter later relayed this to Kessel. Kessel got angry.

Wilson called Kessel emotional and inconsistent, among other things, during an interview on TSN Radio. From CBC:

"When [Phil's] not playing well, he's a hard guy to get on board and get on your side. It's just the way it is," said Wilson. "He comes and goes and he gets emotional. He lets that affect his game and his relationship with other players. That's what you have to coach."

[...]

"You never change a leopard's spots. You paint over some of those spots, but they'll eventually shine through the paint and that's just too bad," said Wilson.

OK. In today's media session, David Feschuk of the Toronto Star mentioned the report to Kessel, and asked the Maple Leaf about the suggestion that he's difficult to coach. Kessel responded passive-aggressively and the interview ended with him calling Feschuk "such an idiot." Kessel isn't wrong, here.

[ CBC]